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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26948935">Unspoken</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen'>DarkJediQueen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Very Sterek Fall Fest 2020, Alternate Universe, M/M, One-Shot, pack is family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:01:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26948935</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the unspoken things that usually are the ones that are needed to be said.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>286</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>A Very Sterek Fall 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unspoken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>Year</strong>: Future<br/><strong>Spoilers</strong>: Everything<br/><strong>Notes</strong>: For A Very Sterek Fall Fest 2020 Theme of Rain Storm, Monster (Movies), Harvest Moon, and Pack Gathering.<br/><strong>Beta</strong>: Grammarly</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stiles scoffed and kept on stirring the pot of milk to make sure that it didn't get anywhere near boiling. Just when it was ready, he started to pour in the crushed chocolate baking bar and the brown sugar. He was on the spices when the stove was turned off, and he was jerked back.</p>
<p>"HEY!" Stiles tried to drop the spoon, but it splashed over him. It burned for a few seconds, but thankfully it wasn't hot enough to do damage through his shirt. Stiles jerked out of the hold and glared at Derek. Who actually looked a little surprised that he had nearly hurt Stiles.</p>
<p>"The movie is starting."</p>
<p>"And I don't care if it does. I want hot chocolate, and I know that if I make myself a cup of it, everyone else will take it to get sips, and I'll be left with none. You wouldn't let me get up and make it when everyone was done eating, so you get to live with me missing the start of the movie."</p>
<p>Derek glared at him, but Stiles had been immune to that for a long time. He had been the Hale Alpha since Laura had fallen in love with another wolf from a different Pack, and he was in line, the only one in line to be Alpha, so she had willingly given it up to settle on Derek when it was time. Talia had been more than ready to hand it over and enjoy a few years of happiness traveling with Greg in the wilds of Canada and Alaska. They came home at Thanksgiving every year and left again at New Years'.</p>
<p>"But the beginning sets up the movie," Derek said like it was going to convince Stiles to come in there and watch.</p>
<p>"I already vetoed wanting to watch this one, but I was outvoted, so don't worry about that."</p>
<p>Derek nodded his head and left the kitchen. Stiles turned the stove back on and made sure that he didn't need to start over again. It didn't seem like it had damaged it, so Stiles kept on going.</p>
<p>"Where's ours?" one of the Pack asked.</p>
<p>"Poured in a mug in the kitchen for you. I made it, the least you can do is get it yourself," Stiles said before he dropped down into his seat. Most of the Pack was spread around the room, sitting clumped together. There was only one chair, and on Pack nights, it was Stiles'. He was only the magic-user for the Pack, not the Emissary, as no one wanted him to be the one to protect the Pack in meetings and such. He would end up with more enemies than allies as he had no want to use tact with them.</p>
<p>"What use are you then?" the guy said.</p>
<p>Stiles laughed and sipped at his hot chocolate.</p>
<p>"Get your own drink. It's just like food, if you didn't cook, you don't get to say a single thing," Derek said.</p>
<p>"Oh, Alpha gotta protect the human?"</p>
<p>Stiles was about at his wit's end with Norman and his words. The thing was that more of the Pack that was new was listening to him than their Alpha, and Stiles was feeling on the edge of everything. Which wasn't a good place for him. Norman had come in from another Pack as a favor since he had been dating the Alpha's daughter, and they broke up, and it wasn't going well. So Norman had come to the Hale Pack, and back then, he had been pretty good. Stiles had never liked him, but the Alpha did, and there was something to be said for that. Derek at least ensured that Norman never got away with this like he had sat there and said to Stiles.</p>
<p>Pack nights used to be something that Stiles enjoyed. It was something that he looked forward to when Derek let them know when they were. Now, Stiles endured them. It wasn't going to take long before Norman messed up, and Derek threw him out. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Norman's former Alpha was well aware as this was part of why his daughter had broken up with him. Derek tried. He tried too much; sometimes it seemed to Stiles.</p>
<p>The movie played, and Stiles was bored. He sipped at his hot chocolate until it was gone. He got up and rinsed out his cup. He stayed back after doing so, looking at the small groups of the Pack. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were lumped together as they ended up part of the time. Scott and Allison were on the love seat with a few other Pack right close. A body part touching someone else. Yet no one was touching Stiles. Ever. He wasn't sure when that stopped. He wasn't sure when because he hadn't noticed.</p>
<p>Stiles slipped out of the kitchen door and out onto the back porch. The sun was fully down, and the storm that had been near when the movie started was there all the way now. Stiles slipped off his overshirt and patted down his pockets. He found his phone and settled it onto the table near the door, so it wouldn't get wet before he slipped off his shoes as well. He stepped out into the rain and looked up at the dark sky, enjoying the feel. He could feel mother nature in every single drop that hit him, which helped lift his mood. He had been pretty sure that the storm was created by him and his slightly foul mood. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for it to go either way, though. He had created a few over the years, but this one felt like his in a way that the others hadn't.</p>
<p>"Why are you out here?" Peter asked.</p>
<p>Stiles looked around for him and found the Werewolf standing at the edge of the trees, just out of the light from the porch. He was soaked, but unlike Stiles, who looked like a drowned rat, Peter just looked hot. That was one DILF though that he would never touch like that. Even if Peter wasn't in a relationship with Stiles' father, he was also in love with another man. Both Peter and Noah were working on seducing him into a triad relationship. Chris Argent had mourned his dead wife for long enough, and he deserved to be happy. Stiles was all for getting that man into his father's bed and Peter's. The man was a little obtuse, and the last time that they had done anything close to what seemed like a come-on, Chris had gone on a month-long hunt on the East Coast. Stiles was pretty sure that he hadn't been aware that the offer was genuine but that he had read too far into a friendship thing.</p>
<p>"It's better to be out here than in there," Stiles said.</p>
<p>Peter made a humming noise, and then he slipped back into the trees. Stiles didn't have a wolf's senses, but he knew well enough when a Pack member was getting close to him. He pushed a little magic into the rain to where it muffled the sound and smell of Peter.</p>
<p>"You are going to get sick, it's all that humans do," Norman said.</p>
<p>"Folk tale," Stiles said. He didn't turn to face Norman. Stiles rarely ever showed Norman that he feared him. Stiles had grown up around the Hale Pack; he had seen Peter rip a man limb from limb for even daring to touch Stiles with the intent to harm him.</p>
<p>"Humans get sick," Norman said. His steps down the porch sounded even in the rain.</p>
<p>"Yes, but you can't get sick from getting rained on unless your immune system is already compromised. Nothing that Mother Nature can throw at me can make me sick. I could sit in the middle of snow buck naked and not get sick."</p>
<p>"You should be inside with the rest of the Pack instead of out here alone," Norman said.</p>
<p>"I needed a few minutes of silence and a little peace. Derek knows exactly where I am, and if he wanted me back inside, he would tell me that."</p>
<p>"He sent me out to get you."</p>
<p>"No, he didn't." Stiles turned around right then and looked at Norman. Stiles grinned at Norman and saw the man look at him in disgust. Stiles knew that Norman didn't like him and thought that Stiles, no matter how powerful he was, shouldn't be in the Pack. The Hale Pack wasn't like many others. Instead, there were more than just Werewolves in it. While the wolves outnumbered the rest, the portion of Pack that wasn't Werewolves was not insignificant. They had a Banshee, even if she was out of town at the moment with her boyfriend and best friend. Norman didn't like them either. Especially since Jackson was a Kanima Werewolf instead of a regular wolf. Stiles was pretty sure his former Alphas had thought that having him along the most not-standard Pack on the West Coast would help him with his prejudice, but Stiles figured that nothing would.</p>
<p>For a man who had been human, he really hated humans.</p>
<p>"Inside," Norman said.</p>
<p>"No," Stiles said. He turned his face up into the rain and let it hit his face again. He heard Norman, and as soon as the sound of him stopped, Stiles ducked away from him, spinning away and calling the stick he used to train. It was made of wood from a branch of the Nemeton that had been given to him when he had communed with it once. A better branch was given freely again that was stored in a little pocket space that he had created. It was made to hurt Werewolves and other Supernatural beings. He didn't want to hurt Norman that much. Well, did but not at the moment.</p>
<p>"You little shit."</p>
<p>Stiles laughed a little, which was the wrong thing to do as Norman charged at him. Stiles jumped over his back, heading toward the porch where Derek was now standing. Derek was glaring at Norman, who didn't even notice Derek at all. Norman spun around and looked for Stiles. He sighted him and took a few steps, and it was only then that he noticed Derek. Derek motioned, and then Peter was slipping out of the trees, a dagger at Norman's throat.</p>
<p>"Whatever he's told you, he's lying," Norman said.</p>
<p>"He's said nothing. He's taken the abuse you've spat at him and said nothing about it at all. I'm sure he's plotted your death a million ways, but he's done nothing. The rest of the Pack? They have said something every single time. You didn't even notice that I was standing at this door, Norman. I contacted your former Alpha and asked him what he wanted me to do. We both feel that pushing you off on another Pack would just be something that would damage relationships."</p>
<p>"You going to kill me?"</p>
<p>"No, I am not. I'm also not going to allow you to kill anyone in my Pack. Three days from now, the Druids will be arriving for the decade check on the Nemeton since we don't have a Druid on the land anymore. When they leave, you will be leaving with them. They will work with you or kill you. Werewolves like you upset the balance. You will out us to the world, and that is not something that I can allow."</p>
<p>"I should have known that you would take the side of your cocksucker," Norman said.</p>
<p>"Oh, Norman, if he did suck my cock, you would be dead for even thinking that you could touch him with malice in your thoughts. I would have Peter hold you still, maybe even Stiles himself, with magic and gut you so that you could watch your intestines and everything drops out, and then the pain of your death would be so horrible that you pass out before you die. Take him to the holding cells."</p>
<p>"Why do you care more about some fucking human than a Werewolf?" Norman demanded as Peter started to draw him into the woods.</p>
<p>"I don't care more about him than I do you. Or I didn't before you decided that attacking a human was a good idea. Before that, I couldn't pick between the two of you. You making the decision that you were more important than him though and that you could attack him, that tells me that you'll never accept anyone who isn't a Werewolf."</p>
<p>"Take Tom out of here, Peter," Stiles said.</p>
<p>Peter laughed as he finished dragging Norman out of there.</p>
<p>"Uh, Stiles," Cherish said from somewhere behind Derek.</p>
<p>"Yes, Cherish?" Stiles asked. He didn't look away until he couldn't see Peter and Norman anymore, but he could still hear Norman until there was a sound that Stiles knew well, Peter had knocked him out. Stiles turned around then and looked at her. She was another new person to the Pack. The last effort to pick a few humans to turn that would help the Pack. Stiles wasn't sure about most of them.</p>
<p>"His name's not Tom."</p>
<p>"I know that, but Tom Riddle...half-blood who hated his Muggle-born father and status so much that he fancied himself a Pure-blood? Peter got it." Stiles looked back to where Peter had disappeared. He would stay where he was until the man was back. The cells wouldn't let Norman out, but Stiles was worried if another member of the Pack was out there who might help him escape. If that happened, Peter would kill him.</p>
<p>"You should have told me," Derek said.</p>
<p>"Why? So you could punish him? That would only feed it. I knew he would attack, and he would be so jumped up that he thought he could get away with it. You are a born wolf, Derek. He thinks that even though you accepted this Pack as it is, you don't want them in it. He thinks that this whole Pack was assembled by your mother, and then you were left with it. You never had to say a single thing about it, his mind made it all up to fit the narrative that he wanted."</p>
<p>"You knew this was going to happen."</p>
<p>"His former Alpha told me that I would be the target. Your Left Hand is a born wolf. Your Right Hand is a born wolf. I know that you went with what was best for that, and no one else cares. I mean, I would never fuck with Peter, and I would never cross Aurora. She's fucking awesome, and I'm pleased that she married into the Pack, but the rest of us are all Muggle-borns, and he hates us. He wants to see this Pack as pure. It's the Hale Pack; it's like Draco Malfoy letting in a whole bunch of Half-bloods and Muggle-borns and making them his equal. Your Emissary is human, but he deals with that since all Emissaries have to be."</p>
<p>"If I didn't have Peter, you would be my Left Hand," Derek said.</p>
<p>"Oh, I know. I know he's been training me to take it over. I know that Spencer didn't want Right Hand, and that's why his wife is. He would be a kick-ass Right Hand, but he doesn't want it. He railed against learning it when he was being taught by your mother how to be one. He's too set in his ways. He likes his job, and that's as good as it gets."</p>
<p>"Cora was going to be Left Hand at one point. She would be good at most of it."</p>
<p>"Except the hiding in the shadows, I know. I wouldn't have that issue as much."</p>
<p>"If I didn't have Aurora, your father would be my next choice."</p>
<p>Stiles felt Derek step closer to him; the want to be near Stiles and maybe even pull him inside. Derek's want to do it was to stop Stiles from getting cold, not because he thought him lesser. Derek just hated to see Stiles cold. It was why Stiles was always near him when they were out camping for Pack gatherings. Stiles used to think that Derek was sweet on him, but he realized it was just Derek wanting to protect him because he thought he was family.</p>
<p>"The Harvest Moon is soon," Stiles said.</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"We usually head out somewhere, but you've not said where yet. I have the week off of work like I normally take. I just need to make sure I don't need to pad it anywhere."</p>
<p>"No, we leave the morning, and we will be back a week later, like always. I wanted it to be a surprise for you."</p>
<p>Stiles turned his head to look at Derek, who was only a few steps away. He was glaring at him.</p>
<p>"We started up a monster movie for you. I know it's not October yet, but I thought that after this, you might like a little soft fun."</p>
<p>"Wolfman?" Stiles asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Head up and change into dry clothes and then come on down."</p>
<p>Stiles nodded his head and moved to walk past Derek. Derek didn't reach out and scent like he used to do every time Stiles passed. It was just another thing that had changed.</p><hr/>
<p>Stiles enjoyed the feel of the sun on his body as he laid on top of the rock, hearing the Pack around him training. He didn't train with the other Supernaturals in the Pack outside of Peter. He took Eskrima classes, and then PEter helped him refine those to fighting Werewolves and the like. Right now, the Pack was playing around to get a little energy buzzed off of them from the drive into deeper NorCal. It had been a pretty good haul for them onto ancient Hale lands from what Stiles could get out of Peter.</p>
<p>"The Spark too good to join us?" one of the newer Pack members asked.</p>
<p>"No, I just don't need to burn off energy like you. This is what I need to do, so I'm doing it." Stiles couldn't be arsed to even figure out who which new member it was. He laughed at the term he thought in his head shook his head. They had a lovely lady from London who had been working in the area for a few months, so she had sought out the Hale Pack to let them know she was there and asked to join them for the full moons each month there. She was a born wolf, born to a magic-user and a born wolf. She had been intrigued by Stiles and spent a lot of time with him. He had also picked up a few things from her vocabulary.</p>
<p>"Steve, come away from there, we don't need a storm wrecking the nice weather if you piss off Stiles," Aurora said.</p>
<p>Stiles laughed at that. He had better control now that Norman wasn't constantly pissing him off. He hadn't made a storm in two weeks unless he meant to do it. Instead, he just enjoyed the feel of the sun on his body before the weather got too cold for him to enjoy it.</p>
<p>"LUNCH!" Spencer yelled out.</p>
<p>Stiles rolled and dropped off of the large rock that he had told everyone else to stay off of. He had it magicked so that he wouldn't roll off of it if he fell asleep, which was always a threat. In the middle of a large forest like they were, the feel of nature pulled at him. Stiles could feel the Hales in this land, and he wondered why they had never gone there before. Even a child, Stiles had never gone with the Pack here. Most of the Pack, it seemed never had. It was only the Hales and a few of the older Pack members. There was a mess of cabins spread everywhere, which was better than tents. Stiles never cared much for sleeping in tents, but at least when they were at this time of year, he could leech warmth off of Derek.</p>
<p>"So, what do you think?" Derek asked.</p>
<p>"It's lovely land," Stiles said.</p>
<p>Derek gave him a look that said that he was a little put out by Stiles' answer, but Stiles wasn't sure what else needed to be said or what Derek was fishing for.</p>
<p>"If you two don't hurry up, there will be no food left," Noah called out as he walked past with a plate in his hand. It looked like it was sandwich fixing and then some sides. It all made Stiles hungry. He had eaten a big breakfast in getting ready for the trip, but that was hours ago, and his magic was going just haywire enough that he was burning it off quickly. Stiles walked over to the table and got enough stuff to make what he wanted. He snagged a hotdog as well and fixed it up before loading his plate down in the spicy potato salad. He shook his head as he looked at the piles that some of the Pack was making. It was all going to be eaten, Stiles knew that he liked seeing what each person hoarded. It was quite entertaining. There was a fire going in the middle of the area, and Stiles found a single rock he could sit down on. There were many logs in rows around the fire, but there was only a single rock. He took it before someone else did.</p>
<p>"Dude," Scott said as he glared as he moved to sit on a log beside him.</p>
<p>'What?"</p>
<p>"I was sitting there."</p>
<p>"I don't have your sniffer, remember? Besides, you need more than just this for you and Allison." Stiles looked back at his plate to pick up his hotdog and make sure the plate didn't hit the ground when he did.</p>
<p>Allison came over and sat down at Scott's feet, earning Stiles a glare from Scott. Stiles internally rolled his eyes before he ate his hotdog. He made sure that no one else was going to bump into him before he stood up and walked over to the edge of the forest around the cabin, plopping down on a stump that was there. It was fresh, and he could still feel the life in the stump. He assumed a summer storm took it out. It felt happy, though; it had been an old tree. He was happy to sit on it and give it a new purpose. He watched the Pack as they all settled in and around the fire to eat. Derek was the last to get his food, and when he walked over to the fire, he looked around. He closed his eyes and then opened them, looking over at Stiles. He raised an eyebrow, but Stiles just shrugged. Derek gave him a pissed off look, which was something that Stiles got a lot lately. He needed to pull back from the Pack some. He used to be at the heart of it, but that wasn't the way that it was anymore.</p>
<p>"Why are you over here?" Peter asked as he dropped tot he ground beside Stiles.</p>
<p>"My seat was usurped, and so I came over here so that all of the logs were free."</p>
<p>Peter said nothing but Stiles was pretty sure the wolf was judging him.</p>
<p>"You shouldn't be over here alone. You could have sat beside Chris or me."</p>
<p>"Nah, neither of you need the less Stilinski bothering you." Stiles looked at his plate and picked up his sandwich. He would work one on of the sides once the sandwich was gone. It would just work better that way. He let the sound of the Pack chatting take him over, and the feel of nature all around him ground him. The Pack had changed a lot with the last three sets of people that were pulled into it, as bitten wolves or just loners who Derek had taken in when they had stumbled into Hale land. "So how long has this land been in your family?"</p>
<p>"We've always owned it. It was one of the first parts of this land my ancestors settled onto when they made it across what is now Russian and across Alaska and Canada," Peter said.</p>
<p>"Really? How come I never knew any of that?"</p>
<p>Peter's head whipped around, and he nearly threw his plate on the ground.</p>
<p>"You don't know anything about this land?" Peter asked.</p>
<p>"Um, no, dude. That's why I'm asking you."</p>
<p>Stiles heard a growl and looked up to see Derek stalking away into the trees on the other side of the main cabin. Stiles wasn't sure what the Betas had done to piss him off, but it wasn't his job to chase after him.</p>
<p>"I gave you the book years and years ago," Peter said.</p>
<p>"What?" Stiles nearly dropped his plate and frowned at Peter. Peter had given him a lot of books over the years. He had all of them. "What as the name?"</p>
<p>"It was the newly printed on, where I had it redone given the previous was falling apart. I made you a copy to keep since I know you like to reread those kinds of books. It just had the triskele on the cover. The inside said the History of the Hales."</p>
<p>"Yeah, no dude, that book was taken away by Laura. I remember you giving it to me in a big stack of books, and Laura saw me with it and said that it was a mistake. She took it away, and I never saw it again. I didn't think much about it, and the next time I was that the main house, I looked for it in the library. I never saw it there. I figured that you might have stuck it in the wrong stack, and it was like something for just the Hales."</p>
<p>"It is just for the Hales," Peter said. He laid his half-eaten plate down on the ground and stalked over to where Cora and Spencer were sitting. He said something in their ears and then went into the forest in the same spot that Derek had gone through in.</p>
<p>There were times that Stiles wondered how Packs survived over the years with how much they didn't share with outsiders. The Hale Pack was the oldest in the United States, and that meant a lot of secrets.</p>
<p>Stiles could feel the eyes of the rest of the Pack on him. He sighed and finished off his food. He barely tasted it, but at least he wouldn't be hungry later. He wrapped his magic around him, making the sight of him fade slowly from sight. He didn't stay to see if the Pack noticed before he slipped into the trees that were all around. The forest pulled him, and he followed it. It seemed like the magic that was the Hales claim on the area missed having the Pack around, and it was happy. Stiles let that happiness infect him as well.</p>
<p>When his trek was done, Stiles found that he was in a part of the forest that was so full of magic that only the most adventurous animals crept into the area. There were a few footpaths from animals but not a lot of evidence that they stayed here long at all. He pulled on the magic and let it fill him, making him feel happy when he really didn't feel it. He hadn't been truly happy in a while. Stiles made plans on what he was going to do when he got home in a week. He could make all of his plans easily and put them into effect when he got home. Packs rarely had magic users that were their Emissary unless they were born into the Pack; Stiles could easily step back and still help Derek when he needed it. He needed to find what was happy for him before he started to find someone else to add to his life.</p>
<p>Derek wasn't that person anymore if there had ever been the chance of it. Stiles figured that he had just made himself believe it because he wanted to be Derek's so badly. The man was wonderful with children; he was just someone that Stiles liked to be around. Stiles needed to let go of him. He needed to let go of the thought of Derek and him together. That would be his main task this week. A few people back in Beacon Hills had asked him out before, but he had always said no. Maybe he could try one with someone that he wasn't sure he could actually be with. A test run when he got back to see how well he had gotten away from Derek.</p>
<p>Stiles wasn't sure how long had passed before he heard someone coming toward him. Whoever it was, they were making sure that he knew they were coming. The sound of cracking sticks and crunching leaves had Stiles sighing. It was Peter or Derek. Stiles really hoped that he was wrong, but that was the exact kind of noise they made back home as to not scare him.</p>
<p>"Derek thought that you knew what this place was. Why we were coming to it now."</p>
<p>"Is that why he was pissed when I said it was lovely?" Stiles asked.</p>
<p>"Yes. It seems that a few issues could have been avoided over the last two years if Derek or I had just asked you about the book instead of assuming that you had read it."</p>
<p>"Do you have a copy of it with you? I can read it in a day."</p>
<p>"I do. It's an older copy, so it shouldn't be outside unless you spell it."</p>
<p>"I can do that. I can go do that now and read this book." Stiles got up and took in the look that Peter was giving him. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he didn't care. He could spend time in the library. It wasn't like there were going to be many people in the Pack reading over the next few days. Stiles could devour book after book and just take his time doing it. It would allow him to work on his plans a lot more. He could make a lot of notes in his own little weird magic language, and no one would be able to read it. No one had ever really tried to read it anyway.</p>
<p>"Don't rush. I'll take you in and show it to you."</p><hr/>
<p>Stiles looked up as the door to the library opened up. He wasn't sure who the hell it was, but he glared at them without seeing and looked back down at the book.</p>
<p>"Stiles, dinner," Derek said.</p>
<p>Stiles looked up at him again and saw that there was a tray in his hand. Derek walked over and handed the tray to Stiles, who leaned back and settled it in front f himself on top of the book he was reading. Had finished the Hale history book hours ago, he was digesting the information because right now, if he let himself react, he was going to demand Derek tell him that it wasn't true.</p>
<p>"Thanks."</p>
<p>"You aren't reading the book."</p>
<p>"I finished it. I'm trying to understand it."</p>
<p>"Maybe talking it out would help."</p>
<p>"Dude, you don't even want to go there. I know what this place is now. I know what it means to your whole family. So I guess I just don't understand why you are upset."</p>
<p>"Then you didn't understand what you were reading."</p>
<p>"Dude, I understood it. I know that the Alpha's bring their mates here along with the Pack on the Harvest Moon to officially ask to court them. I am just trying to figure out who the person is. Are they coming later?"</p>
<p>Derek growled and spun around sharply to leave. Stiles pulled on the air around them, and the door slammed shut so that he couldn't leave without fighting Stiles' magic. The house was full of nature and nature's own magic that Stiles could manipulate so easily. Derek turned and growled at him.</p>
<p>"If I'm so horrible, why am I here?" Stiles demanded. He had never thought that Derek was cruel. It was probably easy for all of the Pack to understand that Stiles liked Derek. He controlled his scent around the Pack, but he must have slipped in other ways. It fit with when the Pack started to pull away from him, even Scott. Scott, who had found out about Werewolves and his first thought, needed to be one to protect Stiles as he learned his magic. Who hadn't even thought of his own asthma and how it could fix that.</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Was this all to just push it in my face?"</p>
<p>"I don't understand."</p>
<p>"Well, that's two of us, buddy. I never knew you were cruel." Stiles waved his hand, and the door opened up, and then the wind picked up, only wrapping around Derek and pushing him out of the room. Stiles stood up and left the food where it was. he had snagged his bag from his bedroom earlier, and there were protein bars in there for him to snack on. He shouldered it and checked his two bottles of water. He had seen the store, and he figured from there he could call a cab to get him back to the town proper and then he could go home via bus.</p>
<p>Stiles was several miles from the house when he heard the call. The howl of wolves that he knew was not real wolves. He ignored it. It wasn't like the Hales and their Pack could track him. He was good at that. They would never find him unless he wanted them to. The night was falling hard, and it was beautiful, what he could see of it through the trees. It was still days from the full moon, but it was bright in the sky.</p>
<p>Two hours passed as Stiles made his way through the forest, letting the stars and his own magic guide him where he needed to go. he stopped walking when he heard something running toward him. He wrapped darkness around him just in time as two Beta shift Werewolves ran past him. He didn't look away from where they had gone. A few minutes later, they came back the other way and about ten feet away. They were running a grid and checking everywhere for him. He wondered which two it was. He hadn't seen them well enough to know.</p>
<p>Taking a step, it wasn't until Stiles was fully committed to it that he knew it was a mistake. He looked to the left to see Derek and Peter both looking at him. Like they could see him through the darkness, Derek's eyes were glowing red to show his Alpha spark. Stiles swallowed and stayed still. The eyes didn't leave him. He didn't move, though; he could outwait them.</p>
<p>"Give up," Derek said.</p>
<p>"I'll leave you two and take the Betas back home so you can talk without little ears listening in. Just don't hurt him in any fashion. You might have been ignoring the scent of him over the last months, but I have not. He's one step away from leaving the Pack altogether." Peter gave Derek a glare before turning to leave. </p>
<p>"Why can't I just go? You've admitted you don't need me here for things like this." Stiles didn't drop the darkness around him, but he really didn't care about Derek finding him. Obviously, something was going on. He wouldn't be shocked if the nature around him had given him up. </p>
<p>"Stiles," Derek said. He sounded wounded, but Stiles couldn't figure out why he was hurt. Derek sighed when Stiles didn't more or say something. He rubbed at his nose and then stepped right over to where Stiles was, reaching out and cupping the side of his face. He was unerring in his movements. </p>
<p>"Please, don't," Stiles said. He felt like his heart was being ripped out. </p>
<p>Derek didn't, though. He just reached up and cupped the other side of Stiles' face. "I'm not cruel."</p>
<p>"We can agree to disagree on that."</p>
<p>Derek shook his head, and then he was leaning in. Stiles tried to shove out of his hold, but even his magic didn't want to hurt Derek. The only way out of his hold was to hurt him. </p>
<p>"I don't and never have wanted pity."</p>
<p>"Fucking hell," Derek said. He leaned his forehead against Stiles' and exhaled. His hands dropped, but before Stiles could slip away, his hands were on Stiles' hips, holding him in place. "Peter said that you were getting it, and I just assumed you were just playing it cool with everything but now. Did you read the section about Hale courting customs?"</p>
<p>"Yes." Stiles had read it over and had been shocked how different the Hales were from the rest. Even within the Pack, the way that they courted was different from the rest. It was all a lot more simple than other wolves but also a lot more meaningful. Stiles really liked it. </p>
<p>"Good. Then think about it."</p>
<p>"Think about what?" Stiles tried to figure out what Derek was saying. He thought back over the last little while, and how the Pack had started to push him to the side, how he wasn't part of the touching anymore. He was done being the joke who couldn't take the hint that he wasn't wanted. The whole Pack probably hated him for even thinking that he had a chance with Derek. He knew that everything was more painful to think about now that Derek had someone in the Pack that he was going to ask to be able to court them.</p>
<p>"Why do you think that the Betas don't act like they normally do?" </p>
<p>"Because they know that I like you, and they don't like it."</p>
<p>"Shit," Derek said. He moved his hands, and instead of holding onto Stiles' hips, his arms were like bands around Stiles' back, forcing him into a hug. </p>
<p>Stiles took the affection and didn't let himself think about this being the last time that he could have this. He soaked up the affection that had been such a big part of his life before now. He let his mind go wild. The happiness at affection was there; he could feel it in his whole body. The wind that had been cold warmed up as Stiles' mood raised up. </p>
<p>"Peter is never going to let me live this down," Derek said.</p>
<p>"He never lets anyone live anything down when he's right, and they are wrong," Stiles said. He was just glad the moments where Stiles was wrong were few and far enough between that Peter never felt like he needed to prove to Stiles that he was smarter. Instead, he just made sure that he was superior to Stiles in other things. </p>
<p>"That is true. I never even thought about how much you would miss the affection from the Pack. You always made it seem so reluctant when they cuddled you and other things."</p>
<p>"So you what? Asked them to stop without talking to me?" Stiles asked.</p>
<p>"No, it's...a byproduct of the Alpha of the Pack choosing their partner. The rest of the Pack feels like they can't intrude on that."</p>
<p>Stiles nodded his head because it was something that he knew, but it was rarely actually done in this day and age. Then Derek's words crashed down on him. He jerked back, Derek letting him go easily and stared in the other man's face. "Me?" Stiles' brain kind of stayed right on that. </p>
<p>"Yes, Stiles, you. I didn't realize that it was something that you didn't understand. Peter gave you that book years ago because he was sure that we would be together, even when we were both too young to understand. Then things changed a little with me becoming Alpha instead of Laura, and our Pack had issues. That's why I said you would have told me about Norman. No one should disrespect the Alpha's chosen mate like that in the Pack."</p>
<p>"I didn't know that I was. I mean...you stopped being affectionate with me as well. Ever since Sara arrived for the few months that she was here."</p>
<p>"You two got along well, and I was jealous. Then I realized that neither of you were going anywhere near the place where you would be with her."</p>
<p>"Derek, she had a partner back home. I'm sure that Alice would have loved to come and kick my ass for even hitting on her."</p>
<p>"Yes, Peter explained that as well. I was too busy with too many new Pack members, and Sara didn't seem to want to get close to me, so I didn't force it."</p>
<p>"But you still didn't treat me the same after that. Pack meetings, I always got to sit beside you on the couch or the floor. Then I was relegated to the chair, the only chair. Hell, today, I took Scott's spot, I guess on the fucking rock, and he made it feel like I was somewhere that I shouldn't be. No one in the Pack outside of Peter has been treating me the same. I've been treated like an outsider."</p>
<p>"Yes, I was made aware of this fact today," Derek said. He tucked his face into Stiles' neck and inhaled. "I thought you smelled like you did because you missed Sara as a friend, but Peter pressed me that the last time you smelled like this was when you had broken up with your last boyfriend in college."</p>
<p>"So, you brought me out here to ask me to allow you to court me?"</p>
<p>"I thought that something public would show how serious I am once I realized that things were not going the way that I thought. Especially given how lonely you have been. Private and I could see you thinking that I was just making a joke about it."</p>
<p>"You wouldn't joke about something like that. I know that, but the public thing is appreciated. So...that's right before the rise of the moon, right?" Stiles asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, traditionally. The Harvest Moon is used for this kind of thing. I just...I didn't think you would slip out in the dark of the night."</p>
<p>"I was already making plans on how to step back from the Pack since I thought that my liking you was why everyone hated me." </p>
<p>"Letting you have the chair was a sign of honor since it was usually where I sat for important things. We never thought you would see it as punishment. I didn't think a lot of things through. I just assumed that you understood what it all meant. So Stiles, will you stay?"</p>
<p>Stiles nodded his head. He wasn't able to speak at the moment, soaking up the affection that he was getting from being close to Derek. He wasn't a wolf-like the rest of them, but this was something he had missed. Derek let go of his back only to slip his hands down and lift right at his thighs. Stiles let Derek lift his legs and wrap them around his back so that he could carry him back to the cabins. There were a few of the Pack outside chattering as they got close, but Stiles was so tired that he didn't even open his eyes to see who was there. He felt hands on his back and assumed that Peter had told them all to stop being so distant. The whole Pack knew not to piss of Peter, so they would do as he said. </p>
<p>They didn't stop outside of Stiles' bedroom door and instead just kept on going. The scent of the room that they stopped in told Stiles it was Derek's. The scent of his shower stuff had filled the room even in such a short time. Derek had showered when they got there, getting the stink of the road off of him, he said. Stiles was laid down on the bed, and he opened his eyes to look at Derek. Derek was looking down at him fondly. </p>
<p>"I'll get you something to change into." </p>
<p>Stiles nodded his head before he sat up so he could get his boots off. His feet were dangling over the bed. He released the laces and then dropped them off the side. He worked on his socks and pants next and then his shirt, staying in just his boxers. The room was warm, a low fire going in the fireplace in the corner. His bedroom didn't have one of those, and he felt a little cheated. Derek came into his line of sight with a pair of his sweats and one of his shirts. Stiles held out his hands, but Derek only handed over the shirt. Stiles slipped it on quickly as even with the fireplace, it was still too chilly in there for him. Derek knelt at his feet and made the motion for Stiles to lean back. He did, and Stiles got to see Derek helping him into the sweats. Derek was down to just a pair of rather thin sleep pants, but Stiles knew that the heat he put off would make everything fine. Derek settled fully on his knees and slipped the pants up to Stiles' thighs before Stiles used his arms to lift his ass up so that Derek could take them all the way up. Stiles settled on the bed again and then leaned down to kiss Derek. He kissed him so carefully that he felt tears touching cheeks. He pulled out and looked at Derek, who looked like he was so happy he was crying. </p>
<p>"Poor Alpha," Stiles said.</p>
<p>Derek laughed and moved to press Stiles down into the bed and take a deeper kiss. It felt good, damned good. It only ended when Stiles yawned so hard that his jaw cracked. </p>
<p>"Sleep," Stiles said.</p>
<p>"Yes." Derek wrapped Stiles' legs around him and used that to lift him up into his lap as he pulled down the blankets and then got them both under. It felt good. Being wrapped in Derek's arms. They had a lot to talk about so that no mistakes happened after this, but this was what Stiles wanted, and he was glad that he was getting it. "Sleep, Stiles."</p>
<p>"I will. Just a little too cold," Stiles said. He pushed back into Derek's chest a little more and was rewarded with Derek draping a leg over both of his and pressing his lips to his neck. He was more than pleased with this. </p><h1>The End</h1>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! </p>
<p>I can be found on MeWe <a href="https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1">here</a>, join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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